Considerable effort has been expended in recent years to find a satisfactory bread improver for use in the so-called "short time" process, which would provide satisfactory dough and bakery product characteristics for varying markets. The Craig et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,803,326 discloses a particular example of a four-component additive composition (cysteine, whey, ascorbic acid and soya protein) which is intended to provide a high degree of flexibility to the processing as well as an adaptable variability of product characteristics to meet existing market conditions in various areas. The Craig et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,805 discloses combination type developer and conditioner products of a somewhat similar nature which rely upon the sulfhydryl activity of recently developed high protein concentrates. The general purpose of these prior dough improver and conditioner products is to avoid the wasteful expenditure of time and space normally required in conventional fermentation type processes (e.g., straight dough and sponge dough), through chemical development of the dough by means of the described agents.
Notwithstanding the benefits to be obtained from use of bread improvers and conditioners of the type described (i.e., adaptable variability in "short time" processing), the available agents have not proved entirely satisfactory for particular market conditions. Thus, despite the improvements noted, each dough formulation containing a bread improver must be tailored to the particular market for which the product is intended. By way of illustration, while leaven bread, sweet goods and the like are very popular in the Japanese market, bread and dough characteristics to satisfy the quality sensitive Japanese consumer are unique. In particular, satisfactory white bread for the Japanese market not only must have a very low specific volume compared to bread in the United States or Holland (3.7-5.5 as compared to 6.2-7.2), but the Japanese consumer also insists that the bread be fine, close grained and soft in texture. The bread must additionally have a good flavor and a golden-brown crust color. Changing market conditions are also imposing somewhat similar requirements upon the U.S. market. Young consumers, particularly, wanting to get away from the tasteless "balloon" bread found on the supermarket shelf, are presently demanding a unique combination of properties which is similar to those in the Japanese market, viz., a dense loaf of relatively low specific volume and a fine, close grained and soft texture. On the other hand, while corresponding to the concept of a "natural" product (as compared to machine-made bread), such product must also have good shelf life and keeping qualities.
In conventional bread making as practiced in the United States, the baker selects the ingredients and process conditions to provide a high and uniform gassing rate from the yeast (with proper selection of yeast foods for such purpose), to obtain proper development and maturity of the flour proteins and to insure good gas retention for loaf volume. While the resulting bread may have fine grain and soft texture, in contrast to the requirements stated above it will also have a very high specific volume. On the other hand, when the doughs are intentionally processed to provide dense, compact loaves, as in the case of German breads, the resulting products are characterized by an open grain quality and a very low degree of softness. The shelf life of such breads is also undesirably short. It follows that conventional procedures presently known in the baking industry, including the so-called "short time" processes, do not lend themselves to the production of bread of the Japanese type, that is, having a low specific volume but also a fine, close grain structure and soft texture. While the baker may be able to artificially decrease the loaf volume to some extent, for example, by reducing the length and temperature of the final proof period, the desired characteristics of fine grain quality and softness will not be obtained due to improper conditioning of the proteins. Other bakery procedures, such as under- or over-mixing, employing less maturing agent, or combinations of these procedures, are likewise ineffective to obtain the particular combination of bread properties described above. In this regard, the teachings of the prior art are very clear that a relatively high loaf volume of the order of 6.2 to 7.2 (and the ingredients, factors and conditions that provide such high loaf volume) is necessary to the production of the fine, close grained texture associated with softer bread. In fact, the so-called "squeeze" test for freshness is directly related to this concept, in that a bread with a high volume and low specific gravity is known to provide a softer loaf.
Because of differences in consumer preferences, as noted above, and essential differences in the processes adapted to satisfy these particular consumer requirements, there is presently a need for a bread developer and conditioner which will enable the production by the short time process of a bread which meets the current consumer requirements, particularly for a bread of very low specific volume which also has a fine-grained soft texture.